Billy Larson

Billy Larson, a native of Philadelphia, PA, is noted for his vast and versatile array of performance, education, and choreographic experience ranging from classical ballet to rhythm tap. He received his early training under the tutelage of Fred Knecht and later attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. As a performer, Billy enjoyed a remarkably diverse professional stage career. He performed the lead role in Mia Michaels’ “3 Steps From Heaven” for ASH Contemporary Dance and was featured in Mia Michaels’ work presented at the APAP Performing Arts Conference in NYC. Billy performed extensively throughout Eastern Europe as the principal male dancer in the late Mark Marino’s American Dance Company, traveled across the United States and Canada as Funky in Dein Perry’s critically acclaimed TAP DOGS, and was a dance champion on CBS’s Star Search hosted by Arsenio Hall. No stranger to the competitive dance community, Billy is a former Mr. Dance of America for Dance Masters of America and a National Male Dancer of the Year for the American Dance Awards. In 1998, Billy was honored with the Gold Medal at the World Tap Dance Championships in Riesa, Germany. He is noted as the first American and youngest artist to receive the honor at the time.

This past year, Billy was recognized by the U.S. Dept. of Education and U.S. Presidential Scholars Program with a 2011 Teacher Recognition Award in the Arts and was honored to present his work as a finalist in the Capezio ACE Awards for Choreography in August 2011. He has been on faculty at the Broadway Dance Center and was a key faculty member at the Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary Summer Program in NYC. Indulging further in his passion for teaching and mentoring, he opened and artistically directed “East Coast Movement” a versatile training facility for young dancers located in Northern New Jersey, which he culminated in 2008 and closed after the completion of an outlandishly successful third season in order to pursue new endeavors in the industry. Today, his students can be found in every facet of the professional dance community and furthering their dance education in the finest collegiate dance conservatories including The Juilliard School, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Marymount Manhattan College, University of the Arts, and Loyola Marymount University.